Project H.O.M.E., Allies Honor Homeless Memorial Day
DECEMBER 27, 2009
Despite the cold and snow, 200 people gathered at City Hall for Homeless Memorial Day -- observed in cities across the country on the first day of winter -- on December 21. The group held a candlelight vigil to remember the 87 homeless and formerly homeless individuals who passed away in 2009, including three members of the Project H.O.M.E. community. Each of the 87 names was solemnly read aloud by a speaker who had been touched by homelessness while the crowd held up signs honoring each person. The event featured inspirational words from Mayor Michael Nutter, Alicia Christian of Dignity Housing, and our own S. Mary Scullion, and included a City Council proclamation as well as a call for those present to renew their commitment to ending homelessness. Afterward, a group led by Reverend Robin Hynicka of Arch Street United Methodist Church walked to the Municipal Services Building concourse to lay a wreath where a still-unidentified man was shot and killed by police last July.
